Date: Friday, March 27th
Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:9 
“For which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!”
By: Lois Griffiths, Criminal Justice System Ministry Committee of The Lower Susquehanna Synod, ELCA
This Lenten Season, I am reflecting upon the book, Bonhoeffer and King written by J. Deotis Roberts. Both Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King:
– Were social activists with a solid theological foundation.
– Lived servant lives of witness in their pilgrimage of service
– Knew the human face of God and advocated for the humane use of power
– Recognized the collective and systemic evil in the abuse of power in church and politics
– Warned about the political and military machinery of people who play god with other people’s lives
– Saw evil in political order- Bonhoeffer, Nazism & Anti-Semitism; King, Racism & Segregation
– Shared a mission to “liberate the oppressed”
– Told how “The fall occurred again and again, day after day and the church remained silent”
– Spoke about “love in action” that “God is as close as a neighbor in need”-
– Believed in the “transformative power of the Gospel”, the “soul-and-savior gospel”
– Preached the message of The Sermon on the Mount
– Had short lives- died at Thirty- nine years…king’s death was during Easter
The summer of 1964: My first visit to Berlin. went through Checkpoint Charlie and saw The Berlin Wall, an obstacle course of barbed wire, buried mines, spiked glass. There were also memorials of flowers, notes and crosses.
The fall of 2019: My return to Berlin. went back to Checkpoint Charlie and saw sections of The Berlin Wall everywhere. There are sections all over the world. Reminders to “Remember.”
The winter of 2020 My trip to El Paso, Mexico, Las Cruces, went to “Matthew 25” ecumenical centers. On the border wall, a sign says, “Not Criminals, Not Illegals-We Are International Workers.” We heard stories of suffering, separation and survival.They praised and thanked God.
These trips were opportunities to reflect upon the saving power of God’s grace.
Prayer: Dear God, we give thanks that your words is not bound as we are to our secular laws. Amen.
Criminal Justice Fact: LGBTQ populations, and people with mental health disorders are all over-represented in solitary confinement.
Action: Consider hosting a screening of NRCAT’s film, Breaking Down the Box. http://nrcat.org/torture-in-us-prisons/take-action/breaking-down-the-box
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